Disappear
by Shadimee
Summary: Haunted by visions of another life Zoro believes that he is losing his mind. What, or rather who, is this strange girl whose life is inexplicably intertwined with his.
1. Chapter 1

**Disappear**

**Chapter 1.**

Although I wasn't drunk, nowhere near it after only ten tankards of booze, I felt unusually sleepy. Normally in a situation like this, I would sit on the sidelines until the urge to sleep drowned out all the noise of the party. But tonight there was a heavy sensation in my chest and I went to bed early, despite the annoyingly loud protests of the idiot trio and the insults of the stupid cook.

However, to my frustration, I found myself unable to sleep. While the men's chambers were relatively quiet, especially in comparison to the deck where the rest of the crew were still celebrating our arrival into the New World, my eyes remain wide open.

In the darkness I lay in my hammock, hoping that the sea would gently rock me to sleep as it did on calm nights like this one. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Just as I was on the verge of slumber, the calm sway of the hammock stopped suddenly and the room started to quiver and tremble.

I jolted upwards, suspecting an approaching storm and listened intently for the sound of Nami's voice shouting orders at the crew. But it never came. Instead I was greeted by cold droplets of water that fell thickly onto my face.

"What the—rain?" I said aloud, in surprise. "How can it rain?" My voice was surprisingly quiet, as if I hadn't used it in a long time. Still dazed, I rubbed my face and indeed it was rain water in my hand. Except it wasn't my hand. It was a long, thin slender hand; the hand of a woman. I looked down to see my legs folded on an ice cold cement floor and my white dress soaked into the ground by the rain.

I wondered then if I was perhaps still asleep in my bed, and this scene was a strange vision conjured up by my tired brain and ten tankards of booze. In front of me was a high stone statue, carved into the shape of a weeping angel. I soon realized that I was in the body of a girl who was placing flowers at its feet.

It was a memorial stone.

Eventually I stood up and made my way down the stone steps slowly and carefully. My feet were cold as if I was walking barefoot, and the rain had soaked deep into my skin and had frozen my bones. The wind howled through hollow trees and a heavy sensation returned in my heart, as if I was apprehensive of something. My legs began to pick up a desperate pace. I couldn't see much of anything, but the need to run, to escape was getting stronger with each step.

There were voices now, calling me, coming closer…until…until…until…

I woke up in my room.

This time it was my room. It was still dark and the room was still empty. I hadn't been asleep for a long time. Yet, I couldn't shake the dreadful feeling. There was a knock and the door swung open to reveal the scowling face of the cook.

"Is there a problem, sleeping beauty?" he said.

I look down at my hands and one last time around the room. Everything was back to normal. "No. Piss off." I replied with equal politeness.

"Then keep it down." The cook said angrily. "If you can't handle your damn drink, I'll be sure to give you water next time."

"Can't handle my drink?" I said with increasing irritation. I got up and pulled out one of my swords and stepped forward but for some reason I lacked my usual fighting spirit. The stupid cook must have noticed because he stared at me strangely for a few moments, then walked out of the room calling out "Go get some sleep and keep your mouth shut while you do it" over his shoulder.

I went back to my hammock but I did not fall back to sleep, even when the others had come in one by one in a drunken stupor after the party. When the first light of dawn came through the cabin window I dressed myself and went out onto the deck. The grass lawn on the Sunny's main deck was damp with morning dew. Water droplets gathered on the tips and glistened as they dropped, like the wet flower petals on the memorial stone.

I shook my head, trying in vain to erase the dream from my head, but it was useless. I could remember every single detail as if I had been physically present. I must have been more tired than I originally thought, dreaming so deeply and vividly of something non-existent. Maybe I really was turning into a fantasist like Nami said.

I needed to get my mind off things. The light from the crow's nest was still on. Whoever was on night watch would have to put up with my company for a while; I had weights to lift and things to forget.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disappear.**

**Chapter 2.  
**

Still slightly unnerved and unbalanced, I made my way up the crow's nest slowly and carefully. Although my heart had regained its natural rhythm, not like that fearful pounding from earlier, I found myself gripping the ropes tighter than usual.

A few weights would do me some good, I thought as I consciously loosened my hold on the ropes. I knocked on the entrance door a few times to warn whoever was inside of my presence and stepped through quickly. As I entered I saw Brook flinch violently, spilling his tea all over the tile floor. I couldn't tell with just a glance whether he had been asleep or not (no eyelids of course) but his reaction spoke more than words.

"Sorry for waking you up." I said as I made my way to the weight rack across the room. "But then again, you're lucky it was me and not Nami."

"Oh, Zoro-san!" Brook said in his typically loud, surprised voice. "I did not expect to see you here so early. Last I remember, you were tanked out on the deck. What a fast metabolism you must have, I dare say it's faster than my bones!" As if on cue he released a flurry of gas from all exits, laughing like a mad man. I resisted the urge to hurl my hand weights at his head.

"Well I just don't drink myself senseless, like you guys." I said, covering my nose and mouth with my spare hand. "I think you still need a rest. I'll talk to you when you are sober."

He laughed again, this time with a tiny bit more restraint. "Don't worry about me, I am very much sober. On my old ship we would party from morning to night and sometimes the next morning too! They were good times!"

Brook laughed cheerfully then went quiet for a moment, as if he were reminiscing about the times he passed with his old crew mates. According to his account, it had been over fifty years since he had last been with them. Perhaps the memories were flooding back to him. I wondered how much he could remember. Fifty years is a long time; would the memories have faded or would they be as vivid as the day they were made.

I didn't think it was my place to ask.

"Well, I'm not so sure about that." I said instead, "You still sound pretty drunk to me. I went to bed early, I wasn't tanked out on the deck."

He seemed to regain his composure at my words. "I assure you that you were. Did you not remember Luffy taking you to your room?"

"No." I said with confusion. Surely I went by myself, I would have remembered otherwise.

"Ah, maybe that's because he dropped you on your head a few times. We were all so drunk, yohohoho." Brook said, but stopped his laughing when I turned sharply to face him.

"He dropped me on the head?" I asked.

"Quite a few times. Do you not feel a headache?"

"No, but…" But maybe it could explain the strange dream I had. Maybe that idiot Luffy had given me a concussion and made me hallucinate. That would explain everything.

"…but?" said Brook. I didn't answer. "...Are you sure you are ok, Zoro-san? You seem very out of it and it is highly unusual to see you wake up before midday. Perhaps you would like me to call for some medical assistance."

I shook my head and declined. Now that I knew what the problem was, all I had to do was to wait it out until my head was back to normal. Then I could make up the hours I lost in sleep last night until the next morning. I shelved the weights and went down to the kitchen with Brook. If I could eat my fill of food, I wouldn't even need to wake up until tomorrow.

The kitchen was empty, bar the cook preparing breakfast. Luffy was still asleep, all the better.

"Hey cook," I called, loud enough for him to be unable to ignore. "I'm gonna go back to sleep so make sure to fill up my plate."

I didn't want to elaborate any further because I had anticipated what was going to come next.

"What's the matter princess, didn't get enough beauty sleep?" the cook said with his usual smoke-choked voice. "Or are you going to be like Cinderella, and sleep happily ever after. Because I can help you with that," he lifted his left foot and waved it in my direction.

"Actually that's Ariel." said Nami as she and Robin entered the room, fresh-faced and sober, without a hint of the post-drinking disorder that seemed to affect the brains of every other crew mate in the mornings. "She's also a red-haired princess with lots of riches…sounds romantic."

I scoffed under my breath but I was relieved that Nami's delusions had drawn the cook's attention away from me. He was fawning over her so much that he didn't seem to realize that he was overfilling my plate, not that I was complaining.

I listened to the ramblings of the others half attentively as I tried to stuff as much food down my throat as I could, before the meat monster of a captain could wake up to the smell of freshly cooked bacon.

"I'm not much for fairy tales," said Robin, "but I'm pretty sure her name was Aurora. The sleeping princess awoken by the kiss of a prince."

"Ah yes that's right. With all that gold. Lots and lots of gold." Nami went on. "But why are we talking about princesses again?" She said in a confused voice that suggest to me that the alcohol had not completely dissipated from her system.

The cook seemed to suddenly remember my presence. "Ah, well that was because Sleeping Beauty here hasn't had enough sleep and wants more food so he can go back to his world of dreams."

Suddenly all eyes were on me. I felt like swallowing the contents in my mouth and marching out of the room, with or without breakfast.

"Well I'm not surprised, Luffy did drop you pretty badly." Nami said almost pityingly. "Don't think I'd be able to sleep after that."

"Perhaps we should call up Chopper," suggested Robin. Brook seconded her opinion, explaining how I had already rejected his offer. But I declined, again.

"I'm fine." I said.

"Are you sure?" said Robin.

"I'm fine." I said once more, but this time it wasn't the sound of my voice at all.


End file.
